Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 19,000 First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired 19,000 shares of First Merchants Corporation valued at approximately $768,000 during the first quarter, marking the stock as its 24th largest position.
• Various institutional investors increased their stakes in First Merchants, with notable boosts from Bank of America (18.8%) and Deutsche Bank (52.0%) in the previous quarter.
• First Merchants announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, scheduled for payment on September 19th, which translates to an annual yield of 3.6%.

Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,000 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $768,000. First Merchants comprises 0.6% of Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,812,000 after buying an additional 19,063 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,667,000 after buying an additional 12,600 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,083 shares of the bank's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,296 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 16,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $386,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.05 and its 200 day moving average is $38.82. First Merchants Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First Merchants's payout ratio is 37.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FRME. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.25.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.

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